Top 5: Things We'll Miss About Seville

Yesterday, on my last jog along the Guadalquivir River, one of my all-time favorite songs, "Chocolate" by Snow Patrol, came on my iPod. The first few lyrics are: "This could be the very minute/I'm aware I'm alive/All these places feel like home." Reader, I teared up. But only a little. Here are more things Jay and I will miss about Seville, in no particular order.

Jay:
1. Tapas. It’s not just the great food that I’ll miss, but the way the Spanish eat—bouncing from bar to bar and having a few small bites and a drink at each.

2. Working From Home. I haven’t been in an office in three months, and I’ve been six hours ahead of my colleagues in New York: Add the two together, then subtract pants and shaving, and you have my ideal working situation.

3. Living With Jenn. We got along better than I could have imagined, and she is a very accomplished cleaner.

4. Old Stuff. I like old cities with old buildings. Let me illustrate: We frequently ate at a tapas bar that was founded before the United States.

5. Getting Around. For the past three months, we’ve relied on our feet and our Sevici bikes to move us through Seville. No subways. No cars. No cabs. No traffic.

Jenn:
1. The In-And-Out Process of Dining. I have no idea what a "reservation" is anymore or why anyone would ever need one.

2. Patience. It may seem like a contrast to the above, but the Spanish are soooooooo patient. I like to think the slower pace has rubbed off on me, though I'm sure New York will put the kibosh on that within five minutes of my arrival.

3. Sevici and Orange Trees. These two are intertwined because there is a specific section on the Sevici path where all you smell are the orange trees as you breeze by.

4. Adorable Spanish Children. I frequently joked with Jay (however horribly) about pulling a Madeline McCain on a number of Spanish tykes in their Sunday outfits. They just seem so much cuter and so much more well-behaved than American children. (No offense to anyone who has any.) Plus, they're on par with my level of Spanish.

5. Feeling Like I Was Always On Vacation. This, no matter how many deadlines I had or bills that needed paying. Should you want to feel this way in your daily life as well, I suggest never looking at your bank account, especially when you know in the back of your head that things may be getting dire. Ignorance truly is bliss.